The book was so interesting...
I had learned that it was, in fact, actually a journal of one of the first ponies to come past the Crystal Mountains.
I read the book, front to back, numerous times until I had memorized it.
It told of his, or her, life among a select group. They never said why they had come past the Crystal Mountains and into the arctic, but from their choice of words it seemed like they were running from something.
My favorite passage, at the time, and the most interesting read as so:
Day Forty-Nine, Sun High
We've been traveling for a day or two in this freezing snow. Sparkle Stone died as soon as we came over the mountain- slipped on a rock and fell to her death...But if we would have stayed there, things would have been much worse. At least she died knowing that it didn't get her.
But I don't want to talk about that, at least not right now.
I loved her, and she loved me. That much was clear between us, but I can't get her out of my dreams or my thoughts. It's starting to get dangerous. Yesterday I nearly fell into a cave shaft because my mind was elsewhere.
I...I kept her pendant. She gave it to me before we made it to the mountains, like she knew she wouldn't see the land past them.
I can still feel her magic on it. If I try really hard, I can even smell her a bit.
I've made up my mind- I'm going to do it, tonight.
I miss her too much.
After reading in some more, I discovered what the writer intended to do, exactly.
Something they called 'Necromatic Conjuration'. The writer didn't get into full details, but I gathered that it was a mix of Conjuration magic and Necromancy, where parts of the spirit of a dead being are manifested into physical form without the need of a 'container', like most necromancy. However, the effect is permanent, unlike conjuration.
You literally create lasting life out of almost nothing.
But, something went wrong. The unicorn casting the spell did something wrong by accident, and...The rest of the journal is just scribblings and seared pages.
It was past midnight by the time I had stopped reading, but sleep evaded me.
My mind kept racing back to the journal and the writer's last, frantic words: Power corrupts, absolute power corrupts absolutely.
I had heard the phrase before in our government classes, but it made little sense concerning the unicorn's situation.
I pushed the thoughts out of my head and struggled to get to sleep.
But sleep never came.
I breathed in the comforting scent of the library as I walked along its shelves, gently brushing my tail against the books- making my way towards the back of the library once more.
I would have felt like a criminal if I asked for a book on Necromatic Conjuration, as Necromancy was illegal throughout the world and Conjuration was not incredibly common.
I doubted that such a book even existed- the knowledge passed down through word of mouth throughout history and likely lost by now.
And I was right.
However, my luck held out in some ways as I was able to find small comments and such about it in other books.
I learned that it is just below Terra-Forming in skill level, and has never actually been recorded in history as ever being attempted. It was all just theory.
But I knew better, as the creature who wrote that journal so long ago attempted it but unfortunately failed. I ran my plan through my head once more.
I knew that such a spell would require vast amounts of power, possibly from several unicorns at once if the spell was at the skill level just below Terra-Forming. So how had the unicorn done it? Was it even a unicorn? I assumed it was, as ponies are the only race able to use magic and Alicorns are incredibly rare.
I pushed that small, important factor from my mind and continued riding my train of thought.
A creature couldn't be created from thin air- it had to have an anchor of sorts to form around and give it 'shape'. If I was to create a friend, I would need at least a small fraction of a personality.
And that's where I took the first step down the dark path.
Elder Scroll had a ring that she carried around with her at all times. She would never tell me why she owned a ring that would fit only a baby Dragon and perhaps even a very young Gryphon, only that it was very special to her.
But Elder Scroll was a very old mare, and she claimed that the ring had been passed down through her family for generations. If whatever creature that had owned it before was magical, then it's magical presence would be long gone. However, Crystal ponies have a special type of magic- one that is used only for pure thoughts. It's what powers the Crystal Heart and keeps us safe from the cold winds and any other threats that may live in the wilderness.
I liked Elder Scroll, and her magic would do nicely in creating a friend.
I needed that ring, and at this point- so close to getting a friend that could always be there for me and whom I would bond so well with -I was willing to steal.
It was only the first step.
The second step consisted of me finding the right way on how to cast the spell and avoid whatever fate had befallen the writer.
Having no sources to work from, I sat in my house -self banished from the library- determining what exactly Necromancy and Conjuration had in common.
The only thing that I could determine the two shared was the art of creation. But would that be enough? Creation magic called for a special type of thinking, and I wasn't sure if I had the ability to do so.
Of course, once again, my emotions beat down my logic and I held the ring in my magical grasp, ready to greet my new friend as soon as he or she was created.
I was so happy I was crying a little bit.
But when I started the spell...I could tell something had already gone wrong.
The room darkened and my horn continued to flare and sputter as I struggled to contain the spell.
But something happened- something that shouldn't have.
I didn't create a being, no! I opened two doorways! One leading to Faust knows where and...And the other...
The other doorway lead into me.
And the creature that stepped out from the other doorway gladly accepted its new host.
It's too late to save me, Shining Armor. It's always been too late. I'm still helpless against this creature that controls my body, and it's only because the crystals it grew onto your horn am I able to tell you all of this.
I don't know where it hid the Crystal Heart, but when you find it- and you will find it, do not hold back.
This is my punishment for not realizing how close my friends really were all along.
Destroy this monster, and me with it; and remember, young stallion: Power corrupts.
Absolute power...
Corrupts absolutely...